An epic coastal curvy view along California’s Big Sur at Bixby Bridge, Big Sur Creek.
This is the first Mercury Retrograde of the three of 2019! All three involve water signs. In the Annual Newsletter I wrote: Pisces, the sign of the magnificent oceans, magic and the Great Mystery! From addicts to saviors, muddlement to acute insight and psychic accuracy. Being lost, to dedication forever led by celestial music.
About Retrogrades!
Whether hiking mountain switchbacks or driving a small zig zag road along a ragged coastline, what a journey! What amazing beauty lies around each new bend. Different directions, different views. What’s behind is out of sight, a memory; what’s ahead is a mystery! Inner bends give us time to pause, hold steady, slow down. Promontories give us visions of the future, longings for more! Each gives us time to think, recalibrate, prepare for the next stretch.
Uniquely, this Mercury Rx 3 part cycle is tied with two outer planet sign changes! It starts Feb 18, the first day of Pisces 2019, the day Chiron goes into Aries its final time, the day before the Full Snow SuperMoon! Mercury starts Retrograde March 5, the day before Uranus goes into Taurus! Chiron’s change happens every 51 years, while Uranus is on an 84 year cycle! These are significant changes.
Chiron has been in Pisces, so Mercury’s job is to keep that Pisces healing in our minds, the spiritual component of us present, while this shift is in progress. The starting point is 16 Pisces. Mercury will go forward to 29 Pisces, the last degree of the last sign of the zodiac! It will turn, Retrograde there March 5, and go back to 16 Pisces on March 28. It turns forward, Direct, then, covering the same degrees the third time, completing the entire cycle April 16!
Since this focus in Pisces starts on the day Chiron goes into Aries, leaving Pisces, it seems we are not to forget those last degrees in Pisces. Chiron is going forward, and Aries is the sign of fresh and new! It’s easy to jump into the new excitement. Mercury will be like an archive of insights, will keep Chiron’s tools at hand and offer them up when needed. Mercury is generally logical. In Pisces it’s less fettered by logic and quickly responds without necessarily thinking. You learn to trust your instincts more while it’s in Pisces. That will be most helpful while Chiron is on new ground, now an Aries first responder type!
Every Retrograde is unique, per the signs, their planets, the connections made with other planets during their retrograde cycle, and, of course, the connections it makes, or doesn’t, with your personal chart! Mercury Retrogrades have three part cycles. First is the part leading up to the Retrograde station. We’re on fresh ground, curious. Second is the Rx period when it goes ‘back’ over the part leading up to the Rx. We see things from an opposite point of view. Adjustments are made. Third and last is the part when it turns Direct, ‘forward’ again, covering that same ground the third time! We get three chances. At first we get all things in order we possibly can. Second changes and revisions are made. Third, we tidy up, polish things up, complete and present it to the world! A Station is the pause at the retrograde and direct turns. Mercury literally appears to stand still for 8 days! We mull it over, focus, anchor what we want to keep.
Retrogrades can be in two signs. This one is in Pisces. We all have Pisces in our charts, so take note where Pisces is for you. Mercury is communications, logic. It speaks/listens, is quicksilver distracted/intent when interested. It has to do with our lungs and breath, how we touch one another’s Spirits either with hands or words. We can be angry, comforting, whisper, hypnotize, sing lullabies to the baby, chat the neighborhood gossip, share vital life changing information.
Classic Mercury Rx is don’t sign those papers, or do everything to make it possible for that to happen so it doesn’t fall through. Escrows can fall through. They don’t return your calls. The dog ate it. Your computer has a snit. Or you do, LOL! Rule is be sure purchases are from reputable firms that have reliable returns/guarantees/warranties. Be sure the company is legitimate before you deal. Sign any contract changes and make sure they do too. Get copies, save and backup.
Mercury Rx specific to Pisces. Specific? Pisces doesn’t usually do specific, but, when psychic, they can be deadly accurate! However, Pisces stuff can include changing the music, the date for the meditation event, gallery location. Pisces is the new sound machine and lighting. The cruise is cancelled or you change the itinerary. Insurance benefits, interest rates may change. You fall out of love with your belief system, and in a few days the new one isn’t for you either. Your schedule is forgotten when the surf’s up. Be sure to get receipts (not a Pisces thing) for the new wetsuit or snorkel gear, surfboard, sail. Shipbuilding materials will become unavailable or a different choice made. Your definition of beauty becomes less common, more ethereal. Art you like today becomes passe tomorrow.
How to fix the film, get the seafood for the restaurant, where to go to meditate? What is your Spiritual standing, what are your beliefs? Which water gear to buy, which boat, seaside motel? Should I be a lifeguard, scuba or surf instructor? Do I really believe that vision? What about all that debris in the ocean, what technique or organization can take of that? Save the whales, dolphins, orcas? Help the homeless or invest in coastal real estate? And we haven’t talked about climate change, rising water temps and heights. There is so much to be done. Maybe you will find some answers during this Retrograde.
Pisces will make music, take you to a magical place, sell you fresh fish, buy you a surfboard. They will meditate with you, make films, help you disappear, save your life from invisible pathogens. Thinking can bring drinking. At worst they will be the helpless hopeless victim/martyr addict, sinners. At best they are the most compassionate Angel you ever met, one of God’s own miracles. Keep connected with your sponsor; get help right away. Some things are hard to do alone. The rest of us are mushing around in the middle wanting, praying, to be a better person.
Pisces is more than the apparent physical events. It’s the sign of Spirit, of Holy Union, Beingness, Soul. In these often uncommon zones, there is illusion since we can’t see in the way we always have. We sense presence. We get lost, scared, even lonely. We think we are lost because we just don’t ‘know’ anymore or for awhile. Wait, concentrate on awareness, how you feel. There can be confusion that takes us from our standard responses, opens us to other possibilities on new ground. It really is ok not to know. It is a useful state of consciousness that helps us to contemplate new concepts, adjust to their existence, add the facet of them that is our part to carry! But don’t expect them to remain the same as we grow with them each day! Pisces if the sign of Morph! Evolution is a living thing. Let yourself be free to ooze on into the future. Creation can be violent as a tsunami, watching a becalmed glassy sea, elegant, humble, always intriguing and magical! It can be comprehensible, or something we merge with that we surrender too and just go with it until we understand if we ever do. It can happen in a fraction of a second. Might take aeons to perfect.
Mercury is naturally connected with Gemini airy mind and Virgo daily earth services, both logical signs. In Pisces, Mercury is in the sign opposite Virgo. Virgo administers the meds very carefully, does accounting, writes cleverly, is a consummate craftsperson that is renowned for excellent technique and detail. Pisces is tuned to subtle details, a shift in the air. They go by what they feel and dream. Mercury wanders in this sign. Many things don’t matter so much as in ordinary daily thinking. Their attention floats, picking up nuances, tones, whispers, imagination. What does matter is how you succeed as a human with compassion, loving kindness, encourage others to believe in themselves. Mercury Rx here drifts among us, making assessments, seeing what needs doing, how it can be done – often so subtly no one knows you were there. Change seemingly comes from out of the blue… Ideas may be put into sound, art, an illustration, image, an imaginary story.
In Pisces, Mercury squares Gemini. Gemini is known for flitting like a butterfly from flower to flower. Some disrespect that ability; gardeners are grateful their veggie plants get pollinated! Gemini is the vital human to human connections, siblings, neighbors. Pisces is human to Soul, God, Spirit. Both of them are seeking quality connections. A square challenge here is the difference of mediums. Gemini is airy, logical; Pisces is watery, mysty. Gemini can’t see through the mist. Pisces doesn’t function literally/linearly. It takes a wee bit of time for them each to adjust to the other’s modality. Each senses the other has importance, so get frustrated when it isn’t easy at first. Go easy, take it a bit at a time.
Aspects formed 3 times during Mercury Pisces Retrograde. See the Timetable below.
There are four! Foremost is the lead aspect of the Retrograde cycle, Mercury conjunct Neptune, Pisces’s own planet! It started the whole cycle on its beginning day Feb 18! Mercury is usually quite a talker, but in Pisces may spend more than usual time listening, absorbing, feeling, even just wandering, observing. Rather than link to link reporting, there may be a standing back, getting a more comprehensive account of what is seen. Neptune is not always so easy to instantly label. He may be enjoying that space deliberately, or simply be his sometimes shy nature that prefers quiet solitude. That is not usually Mercury’s perch. There are many mysteries to explore, unravel, and that makes Mercury more curious than ever. Fascinating challenge. There is much Neptune would love to have more people know about and understand. Mercury is good at articulating visions and ideas so the average person can get it! Neptune’s visions are important, not to be lost in dream. Mercury is the documentarian of precious perception.
Mercury sextiles both planets in Capricorn, Saturn and Pluto! This is a total switch from Neptune. Capricorn is the hard core last earth sign, sign of stones, ice, glass, concrete! Saturn is his own planet, and Pluto is not to be messed with! You better make sense, have your links in a row, be able to stand up under questioning. Sextiles offer opportunities. If Mercury looks credible, perhaps intuitive Pisces will bring him through by hitting the precise mark Saturn and Pluto are looking for. There is a deeper part of each of them that is wanting much more than money. But it’s good to start by mixing both parts of your proposition together, preferably how one part can pay for the other! They might need you to do some advertising for them. The job might be small, but some potent words and placement could make all the difference in their business. Or it could be a huge job and you think twice about taking it on. Take a deep breath and see what you can do. Remember, Mercury type efforts most go awry during Mercury Retrograde. Even though this is a positive sextile, I would way over estimate your fee. This time it is better to go by the hour than by the job. The client themselves are likely to change horses midstream and it’s their choice, not yours. So the positive here is you get more hours. Put the agreed on hourly fee in your contract and everybody sign it. They could request you do some researching. That definitely needs to be paid time too.
Mercury squares Jupiter in his own sign Sagittarius. That is often not so tough, but can be when it is! Mercury can talk too much, making Jupiter crazy when he’s focused in a certain direction. They can chat too much and not get the job done. In Pisces it can be confusing and Jupiter has big imagination, so they may need to just back up and start over though the cat is already out of the bag. Both are story tellers, Mercury short, Jupiter long. Might not pay for Mercury to try to publish Jupiter’s book right now. Not the best time to make travel decisions or school/instructor decisions. Truth itself is questioned. Both planets and signs can be naive at times. Scams are afoot; guard your friends. Be careful about libel. Clarify right away. Faith is overwhelmed by distracting questions. But. If Jupiter is right on, and not being recognized, Mercury could come up with a breakthrough channel to the core and put Jupiter on the map, finally credited as he should be! Jupiter can be out in the boonies of philosophy while Mercury is right here in town getting the word out, sell, sell, selling! In Pisces?! Sure! When he believes because he has ‘seen,’ he can be inspiring and invincible!
Pisces Mercury with Uranus newly in Taurus
Uranus is Mercury’s wild card friend. They are each communicators – Mercury mind, Uranus genius. Mercury is enthralled with the amazing array of ideas Uranus concocts out of thin air! He knows he’s hearing only the half of it. Volumes are communicated on into dawn! Mercury has a million questions! Uranus can uplift the perspective, sometimes bringing Mercury to the height of perception! Uranus is challenged to satisfy this psychically insightful questioner! Uranus has been closely tied with Chiron the entire time Chiron was traversing Pisces! They have each taken on a bit of the other, a camaraderie has been established. So Mercury in Pisces is more easy with Uranus than when Mercury was in other signs. Mercury instinctually realizes this may be the chance of a lifetime!
On the other hand, Uranus has more patience in Taurus, but he is still way ahead of Mercury and at times may get bored quickly with Mercury chatter, no matter how clever it is. Might be good to connect several different times for less time. Mercury can find Taurus a little slow for his taste, yet he can be surprised by Taurus when one of those awesome things Taurus has been thinking about suddenly is complete and pops up! And a terrific idea it is, all the details worked out! So Mercury continues to check in. Mercury finds himself thinking on a larger scale and is alert to how to get more people on board. See more about the Uranus sign change
Pisces has mixed feelings about Uranus. He knows Uranus can disturb the valence at the drop of a hat. Uranus brings quakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, lightning shocks. Pisces can be excited at the time, aware of nature’s own magnificent terrifying cycles, and also be in great mourning for the destruction, loss of life. Change on this scale can clear the way for many people at once, to forge a new life more powerful than what was, up to date, a better chance to deal with climate change effectively. Pisces, so aware of suffering, is glad some of that old suffering is over. Uranus is the planet of being ahead of its time. People find themselves inventing new systems for better living for themselves and our planet.
Uranus going into Taurus is comfortable for Pisces. Taurus is restful, steady, gentle, usually kindly. Pisces can be easily frightened, so these slower moves are a relief. There is time to take a look, get acquainted. Uranus is the humanitarian inventor, not so concerned with local matters unless his work is about them. Just know that your changes at a local level can be applied to many small regions or be micro models that can be applied to larger regions!
This Mercury Retrograde is important for hosting these 51 & 84 year sign changes of Chiron and Uranus. Here is the entire Event Timetable:
February
18 Happy Pisces!
Chiron into Aries!
First day of Pisces Mercury Retrograde Cycle
Mercury conjunct Neptune
19 Full Snow SuperMoon
Mercury sextile Saturn
22 Mercury square Jupiter
23 Mercury sextile Pluto
March
5 PISCES MERCURY RETROGRADE!
6 Uranus into Taurus! 0:35 AM Pacific
New Moon 8:04 AM Pacific
10 DST begins
15 Mercury square Jupiter
16 Mercury sextile Pluto
20 Mercury sextile Saturn
Happy Aries & Spring Equinox!
Full Moon Aries/Libra
24 Mercury conjunct Neptune
28 PISCES MERCURY DIRECT (FORWARD)
April
2 Mercury conjunct Neptune
5 New Moon
7 Mercury sextile Saturn
10 Mercury sextile Pluto
11 Mercury square Jupiter
16 Pisces Mercury Rx Cycle ends!
Pisces generally gets along well with other water signs Cancer and Scorpio, and earth signs Taurus and Capricorn. It’s challenged by the other mutable cross signs Gemini, Virgo and Sagittarius, and fire signs Aries and Leo. Be wise. Check carefully with your astrologer about your personal timing!
At this time of Chiron and Uranus sign changes, Mercury is stirring the Pisces brew! Awareness keeps shifting and adjusting. Who knows what will come of it?! It’s a time of divine discovery!
Keep the magic happening!
See the entire Pisces 2019 Newsletter!
See the 2019 UPDATED Special Edition Newsletter for making next year’s plans! Make your changes count.
Please, always remember these planetary combinations are what’s happening in the world. Check with your astrologer to see how they do, or don’t, activate your personal chart! May it go very well with you….
Ah me. Sigh. More than one Mercury Retrograde is just too many. Was over it today and decided to go to Green Man store for Mercury Retrograde supplies. When decision was made my OM tape snapped. In my way out of my building the apt building’s fire alarm went off. A baby spider had touched the sensor. Et Tu Mercury Retrograde!
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OMG, Caroline! A comedy of errors! In some Native American traditions Spider represented communications with all her 8 legs, and taught the people the Alphabet. How Mercury, all those communications items. And ’tisn’t quite over yet! This is one of those times we daren’t ask what could possibly happen next?! (Baby, spider! What a story!)
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